NewsOK: Oklahoma City News, Sports, Weather & Entertainment

National pregame: Auburn-Florida leads a slate of big games

A really good college football weekend arrives, with an SEC showdown of unbeaten top-10 teams, potentially division-deciding games in the Pac-12 and ACC, and some Big Ten matchups that should tell us just where that conference’s contenders sit as October arrives.

Here are the top 10 non-Big 12 games of the week:

1. Auburn at Florida, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, CBS: Stunning schedule for Auburn. The Tigers played Oregon, always have the SEC West gauntlet, always have Georgia and this year gets Florida as a crossover game to boot.

2. Iowa at Michigan, 11 a.m. Saturday, Fox: Are the unbeaten Hawkeyes for real? Are the Wolverines down for the count? Both of those questions could get answered in the Big House.

3. Michigan State at Ohio State, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, ABC: The Spartans probably aren’t good enough to stand up to the Buckeyes, but don’t discount the toughness of a Mark Dantonio team.

4. California at Oregon, 7 p.m. Saturday, Fox: The winner has the inside track on the Pac-12 North title. If it’s Cal, remember, the Golden Bears already won at Washington.

5. Pittsburgh at Duke, 7 p.m. Saturday, ACC Network: The ACC’s Coastal Division winner could come from this game. Virginia, North Carolina, Miami. These two. It’s a wide-open race to be the sacrificial lamb for Clemson.

6. Georgia at Tennessee, 6 p.m. Saturday, ESPN: There’s always a gnawing feeling that the Volunteers could summon some magic for one of these games at Neyland Stadium.

7. Washington at Stanford, 9:30 p.m. Saturday, ESPN: The Cardinal is a massive disappointment, but Stanford is at home, with a chance to ruin UW’s dreams.

8. Central Florida at Cincinnati, 7 p.m. Friday, ESPN: UCF clings to the hope of making its third straight major bowl game. But lose to Cincinnati, and the Knights might not win their own division.

9. Tulane at Army, 11 a.m. Saturday, CBS Sports Network: A wonderful game at Michie Stadium. The upstart Green Wave, 3-1 with a respectable loss at Auburn, against the regal Black Knights, 3-1 with an overtime loss at Michigan.

10. Northwestern at Nebraska, 3 p.m. Saturday, Fox: Big game from this standpoint – can the Cornhuskers really be as bad as they seem to be?

Coach on the hot seat: Charlie Strong

Fired by Texas, Charlie Strong seemed to have found a perfect landing spot at South Florida. His first Bulls team, 2017, went 10-2, beat Illinois and Texas Tech, and finished No. 21 in the AP poll.

Last season, USF got off to a 7-0 start and again reached No. 21 in the AP poll. Then the Bulls collapsed, losing six straight, all by double digits. And the decline continues.

(Story continued below...)

South Florida this season is 1-3, with the lone victory over South Carolina State. USF has lost to Wisconsin 49-0, Georgia Tech 14-10 and SMU 48-21.

Saturday, USF plays at Connecticut, one of the worst Division I-A teams of recent memory. If South Florida doesn’t handle UConn easily, you have to wonder what’s going on in Tampa and how much longer Strong will have with South Florida.

UPSET SPECIAL: Cincinnati over Central Florida

Josh Heupel took over high standards when he became the Central Florida coach after the 2017 season. UCF was coming off a 13-0 season.

Heupel, the former OU quarterback and offensive coordinator, met that high bar. His Knights went 12-0 before losing a rousing Fiesta Bowl, 40-32, to LSU despite playing without injured quarterback McKenzie Milton.

UCF is good again, but Pitt sprung a 35-34 upset on the Knights two weeks ago. And now Central Florida plays at Cincinnati, a Pitt-type team that is well-seasoned.

The Bearcats already have played UCLA (a 24-14 victory) and Ohio State (a 42-0 defeat), as well as routing Marshall 52-14 on the road.

UCF has owned the American Conference two years running, and is a 3-1/2 point favorite over the Bearcats. But let’s go with Cincinnati in the upset.

Auburn running back JaTarvious Whitlow (28) runs into the mascot for Mississippi State, Bully, after scoring a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Berry Tramel

Berry Tramel, a lifelong Oklahoman, sports fan and newspaper reader, joined The Oklahoman in 1991 and has served as beat writer, assistant sports editor, sports editor and columnist. Tramel grew up reading four daily newspapers — The Oklahoman,...
Read more ›